Whittaker believes the
UFC 328 headliner will be a one-sided fight.
Khamzat
Chimaev (15-0) is scheduled to defend his middleweight title
against Sean
Strickland (30-7) in the main event at UFC 328 on May 9 at
Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Chimaev is a massive -590
favorite going into the fight against Strickland, a +390
underdog.
However, Strickland’s trash talk and confidence almost make one
doubt the odds. Many fans and pundits are also not counting
Strickland out due to his elite defensive wrestling.
Chimaev’s former foe, Whittaker, admits that Strickland’s trash
talk almost convinces him that the American can pull off an upset.
However, having shared the Octagon with Chimaev, Whittaker does not
doubt that “Borz” will take Strickland down. While there used to be
concerns about Chimaev’s gas tank, Whittaker notes that the
undefeated champion diminished those claims in his dominant,
unanimous decision title win over Dricus Du
Plessis. Whittaker predicts that Chimaev will run through
Strickland.
“[Strickland] talks big game. He almost convinces me that he can do
it. But being in there with Chimaev, having seen what Chimaev can
do once he gets his hands on you, and he will, cause he shoots from
so far away, and he commits wholeheartedly, he will get you to the
mat,” Whittaker told UFC on Paramount. “It’s what happens after.
Seeing that he has the cardio to do that for five rounds as well.
Gun to my head? Chimaev is going to run him over.”
Chimaev finished Whittaker (26-9) with a face crank, also leaving
“Bobby Knuckles” with a broken jaw at UFC 308 in 2024. Whittaker
has since suffered a controversial spilt decision loss against
Reinier
de Ridder.
Robert
Whittaker believes Khamzat
Chimaev is going to run through Sean
Strickland 👀“Having been in there with Chimaev… Chimaev’s going to run him
over.”
#UFC328pic.twitter.com/CwuluAO4br— UFC on
Paramount+ (@UFConParamount)
May 4, 2026